For much of the past few years, wages for the bottom third of U.S. earners grew at a faster rate than for the top third. But since the start of the year, top earners have pulled far ahead. In August, annual wage and salary growth fell to 0.9% for the bottom third, the smallest gain since 2016, while the top third saw growth of 3.6% year over year, the most since November 2021.